Medical practice chair with adjustable leg and footrest supports



Oct. 7, 1952 N. E. LAUTERBACH 2,612,940

MEDICAL PRACTICE CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE LEG AND @BPORTS Original Filed July 2, 1946 6 SHkets-Sheet 1 mmvrox Norma/z E u-zerback BY Oct. 7, 1952 N. E. LAUTERBACH MEDICAL PRACTICE CHAIR WITH AuJusTkBLE LEG AND FOOTREST SUPPORTS e sum-sheet 2 Original Filed July 2, 1946 M E 0 M7 ma 8 NI]. E r W m ll Jlv r n n. a a W In Oct. 7, 1952 N. E. LAUTERBACH- MEDICAL PRACTICE CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE LEG AND FQQTREST SUPPORTS Original Filed July 2, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 w mi INVENTOR. Ivar/27a E. Lduterba ch 1 18 A L tom'ez Oct. 7, 1952 N. E. LAUTERBA'CH MEDICAL PRACTICE CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE-LEG AND FOOTREST SUPPORTS s sheets-sheet 4 Original Filed July 2. 1946' Hi; Altar/28y Oct. 7, 1952 2,612,940

MEDICAL PRACTICE CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE LEG AND FOOTREST SUPPORTS N. E. LAUTERBACH 6 Sheets-$heet 5 Original Filed July 2, 1946 INVENTOR. Norma/2 lauzerbac/z His Attorney 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 N; E. LAUTERBACH V Fig 7 MEDICAL PRACTICE CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE LEG AND FQOTREST- SUPPORTS Oct. 7, 1952 Original Filed July 2, 1946 uvmvron. Norma/1 5 law zcrback Fig. 8

Patented Oct. 7, 1952 MEDICAL PRACTICE CHAIR WITH ADJUST- ABLE LEG AND FUOTREST SUPPORTS Norman E. Lauterbach, Newark, N. Y., assignor to Ritter Company, Inc., Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application July 2, 1946, Serial No.

Divided and this application October 1, 1949, Serial No. 119,095

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to chairs of the variety adapted for use by the medical profession during examinations, treatments, and minor operations, one object of the invention being to provide an improved chair of such character having a more adjustable, convenient, and efficient construction. 1 Another object is to supply a chair of the nature described having a tilting foot rest frame provided with leg and foot rest sections adapted for adjustment to various positions to suit the varying positions and uses of the foot rest frame and chair.

Another object is to afford a chair having a construction such as described above in which leg and foot rest sections are releasably connected with a back rest section for movement with or independently of the latter.

Another object is to provide a chair of the character descdibed in which the foot rest section is maintained in a horizontal position throughout its angular range of adjustment relative to the chair seat, as Well as provisions for locating the foot rest at different levels to suit different patients in kneeling on the foot rests for certain examination work.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 680,983, filed on July 2, 1946, now Patent No. 2,558,143, granted June 26, 1951, Medical Practice Chair, to which reference may be had for parts disclosed but not claimed herein.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a chair embodying the present invention and arranged to support a patient in upright sitting position;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the sam with parts of the seat broken away and arranged to support a patient in a substantially horizontal position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail View of a latching means shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation with the back rest and head rest lying substantially in the plane of the seat and with the leg rest so arranged that the patient may kneel on it;

Fig. 5 is a sideelevation with the back rest and head rest in the plane of the seat, the foot rest being folded under the leg rest and the stirrups extended and elevated;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of the seat frame and the frame for supporting the leg and 2 foot rests and associated mechanism, partly broken away and partly in section;

Fig. 'l is an enlarged top plan view of the foot rest with the foot supporting section in raised position, and

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the same.

The preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, by way of illustration, comprises a chair having a circular base 40, Fig. 1, supporting an electric motor M and a housing 42 for hydraulic mechanism for raising and lowering a chair supporting column 43 which is mounted for rotation also in the housing, as well understood in the art. At M5 is a foot lever controlling the rotation of the chair and at 45 are foot levers for raising and lowering the chair. These parts for moving the chair column may have any known or suitable construction and form no part of the present invention.

The chair column carries at its top a generally circular supporting head 46 on which a seat frame 41 is supported by suitable means allowing it to have a controlled tilting movement. Seat frame ll is a generally rectangular, hollow frame, on which the back rest, arm rests, and leg and foot rests are supported in connected relation with each other for movement together simultaneously to different adjusted positions.

The back rest 48 (Fig. l) with its associated head rest is slidable longitudinally on a post 49 which is pivoted at 59) on the back of the seat frame ll, for tilting adjustment within the range from the upright position shown in Fig. 1 to the substantially horizontal position shown in Fig. 2. The arm rest frames 5l-52 have one end pivotally connected to theback rest and the other to the side of the seat frame, to suitably control the sliding movement of the back rest on post 49 and these arm rest frames have link connections 53 to 51, inclusive (Fig. 6) with a leg and foot rest frame, shown generally at 58, which is pivotally supported on a shaft 59 at the front end of the seat frame, the foregoing construction being the subject matter of said copending application.

The invention comprises the tilting frame 58 which is pivotally connected with the front end of the seat frame for sup-porting adjustable leg and foot receiving rests. To this end, shaft 59,

Fig. 6, is mounted for rocking movement at its,

opposite ends in bearings in the sides of the seat frame. Mounted to rock independently on the shaft is a sleeve 60 to the opposite ends of which are fixed a pair of spaced arms 58a having upper ends of goose neck shape to avoid interference with the front end of the seat frame. Arms 58a are rigidly connected with each other, as by means of a cross bar 6| Fig. 6, and form a hinged frame of rigid construction for supporting the leg and foot rests, as hereafter described. Arms 58a are formed with outwardly projecting shoulders 62 adapted to strike the bottom of the sides of the seat frame and stop the foot rest frame in its lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 6. The means for pivotally elevating this frame by the pivotal lowering of the back rest of the chair will now be described.

Keyed to the ends of shaft 59, beyond the ends of sleeve 69, are a pair of cross arms-53 each having one end pivotally connected at 54 with a link 55 pivoted at its opposite end .55 to the outer end of an arm 57 keyed on the trunnions, 53, of the arm rests, so that the tilting movement of the back rest, imparted to the arm rests, as described above, is transmitted by the arm rests as a rocking movement of shaft 59, the arm rests serving in this arrangement .as an actuating connection between the back rest and the foot rest frame.

The opposite or lower end of one arm 53 is pointed as at 64, Fig. 3, for engagement with the suitably shaped end 65 of a plunger 66 sliding longitudinally in a hole 67 in the adjacent arm 58a of the foot rest frame. Plunger 65 has its other end reduced in diameter to provide a chamber housing a coiled compression spring 63 (Fig. .3) tending to project the plunger into the path ofmovement of the actuating arm 53. Pivotedat 69 to the reduced end .of the plunger is a ,link .19 having opposing surfaces ll and T2. Pivot 69 is located nearer the surface II so that when the lever is. turned to present that surface to the frame, plunger 56 is released for movement by its spring into the path of the actuating arm 53. Lever 19 may be turned, however, to present its other surface 12 to the frame arm 58a, thereby withdrawing the plunger into its bearing out of the path'of the actuating arm 53, so as to disconnect the foot rest frame and leave it unaffected by the tilting movement of the back and arm rests.

For supporting the foot rest, arms 58a are connected at their lower ends by a shaft I3,Figs. 6 to 8, inclusive, on which are pivotally carried a pair of spaced arms I4 extending rearwardly from the main supporting frame 15 of a sectional foot rest indicated generally at 16. Means are provided, comprising a parallel motion linkage, for controlling the pivotal movement of the foot rest-on its frame, so as to maintain .it substantially horizontal, or parallel with the chair seat, in any tilted position to which the foot rest frame may be moved with the back rest, as may beseen by comparison of Figs. 1 and 2.

For this purpose the foot rest frame I has spaced rearwardly extending arms 'I'I carrying a shaft, or trunnions 18, arranged to be engaged in opennotches I9 in the lower ends of a pair of spaced links 89 pivoted at their upper ends on trunnions BI on lugs 82 on the frame seat. For maintaining the links 80 in position for engagement with the foot rest, a metal strap 83 has its ends fixed to the rear side of a cover plate 84 having cars 85 fixed by screws to the arms 58a. The intermediate portion of strap 83 is deflected to pass behind a rod 86 connecting the links 89 so .as to hold the links in position for engaging the. root rest. Means are provided for releasably securing the links to the foot rest comprising a'latch 81 pivoted at 88 to one of the links, and having a'stop flange 89 atone end. and hooks 90 at the other for engagement with the shaft 18, to hold it in the end notches of links 80, the latches being urged to engaging position by a gravity arrangement or by springs, as desired. The ends of the .latches beyond their hook portions are preferably so shaped, as at 9|, as to be cammed back to clear notches I9, by the engagement therewith of shaft I8, so that the foot rest may be latched to the links 89 without manual operation of the latches. The latch may be manually operated to release the foot rest for folding pivotally upwardly against the frame, as hereafter referred to.

The foot rest 75 comprises the supporting frame 15 forming its lower section, and a flanged plate 92 (Fig. 7) forming its upper section. The

lower section 75 :comprises a supporting plate 93,

Fig. '8, having upwardly turned marginal flanges 94 providing a compartment for receiving the upper section in its lowermost position. The upper section 92 comprises a plate 95, covered by a sheet of rubber or other suitable composition, .96, for .contact with the feet and has downwardly turned marginal flanges 91 adapted to fit within the flanges of the lower section. The upper section isadjustablysupported on the lower section by means of inner and outer pairs of links 98 and 99 pivotally connected as at I00. The links of the inner pair are rigidly connected .by cross bars Iil'I (Fig.7), whilethe outer links are rigidly connected by cross bars I02. One end of each inner link is pivoted at I03 to the ends of an upstanding rib 494 on the lower section plate 93 and the opposite ends of the inner links and theirconnecting cross bar IfilI have sliding .con tact with the under side .of plate .95 of .the upper section, being supported on a keeper bracket I and guided by engagement of a pin [9.5 in the cross bar with a slot in the keeper bracket, as shown. One end of each of the outer links .99 is pivotally connected at I9! to bracketarms .198 on the under side of plate 95 of the upper section. The cross bar I92 at the opposite ends of these links is formed with recesses I99 (Fig. 8) for engagement with detents provided by the hardened wear heads HI! and III of studs H2 and H3 fixed in inclined surfaces formed on the plate 93 of the lower section.

The upper section of the foot rest is provided with .clips H i and H5 located at opposite ends of its front side. By lifting upwardly on clip H4 (Fig. 7)., to raise the upper section, its links 99 are swung pivotally to .cause the connecting cross bar I92 to ride over the detents HI and H0 until the upper section is adjusted to a de sired elevation, after which the release of the lifting clip allows the cross bar to drop and engage at its recesses I99 with the desired detent and thus support the upper section. To lower the upper section, clip H5 is first slightly raised to shift the weight of the upper section toward the supporting links 99 at its opposite end, thus causing the bar connecting these links to rise above the detents H9 and I II and so release the upper section for depression to a lower position or in nested relation in the lower section.

The leg rest comprises a rectangular frame H6 (Figs. 4 and 6 surfaced by a cushioning pad H1 and h-aving'upwardly projecting lugs I I8 fixed at opposite sides of its top. These lugs are pivotally connected with the ends of bars H9 (Fig. 6), which are slotted longitudinally as at I29 and having enlarged ar-cuate opposite ends Hi. The slotted portions of the bars embrace studs I22,

fixed to the side arms of the frame and the arcu ate edges at the ends I2I of the bars are adapted to rotate in contact with concentrically curved ribs I23 on the side arms of the frame, except that such rotation may be restrained by engage ment of shoulders I24 (Figs. 4 and 6) on the bar edges with the forward ends of the ribs. Itis evident from this construction that with the arcuate bar ends and shoulders I24 so engaged with ribs I23, the bars are latched against movement on their studs and the leg rest is pivotally suspended in position against the front of the leg rest frame, so as to be out of thew-ay in the upright position of the chair, shown in Fig. 1, or to support the legs of the patient in the horizontal position of the chair, as shown in Fig. 2. Or, the leg rest may be first swung upwardly on its pivots and the foot rest released and folded upwardly and inwardly against the front of the frame and the leg rest then pivotally lowered to cover it, as shown in Fig. in which position the leg rest serves also as a comfortable surface of contact when the operator assumes a position close to the front of the chair seat, as required in some examinations.

The leg rest may also be pressed upwardly to raise its bars IIe sufliciently to release their shoulders I 24 from the ribs I23, after which the bars may be rotated and slid forwardly on their studs to allow the leg rest to be moved forwardly and downwardly and placed upon the foot rest in any elevation of the latter, as illustrated in Fig. 4, to form a comfortable kneeling surface for the patient. An additional pad I25 (Fig. 1), may be fixed at the top of the leg rest frame to sup: plement the pad I". The foot and leg rests are thus provided with a wide variety of adjustments for adapting them to serve a variety of purposes.

The foot rest retains a horizontal position.

throughout the range of angular adjustment of its frame on the chair seat, but it may be easily retracted against the frame when desired. When again extended to horizontalposition, the foot rest will be engaged, regardless of the angular position of the frame on the seat, by the positive means for maintaining it horizontal or level. It also contains an extremely compact device for providing various levels for kneeling when the chair parts are arranged for rectal examination Work.

It will thus be seen that the invention accomplishes its objects and while it has been herein disclosed by reference to the details of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that such disclosure is intended in an illustrative,

rather than a limiting sense, as it is contemplated that various modifications in the construction and arrangement of the parts will readily occur to those skilled in the art, within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A chair comprising a seat, a frame mounted for pivotal movement relative to said seat and having thereon a leg rest, a foot rest mounted for pivotal movement relative to said frame, and connections between said leg rest and frame for positioning said leg rest selectively on said frame or on said foot rest.

2. A chair comprising a seat, a frame mounted for pivotal movement relative to said seat, a foot rest pivotally mounted on said frame and foldable to an inactive position thereagainst, and a leg rest adjustably mounted on said frame and movable to a position to cover said foot rest in said folded position thereof.

3. A chair comprising a seat, a frame mounted for pivotal movement relative to said seat, a foot rest adjustably mounted on said frame and movable to an inactive position folded thereagainst,

said foot rest having a lower supporting section and an upper foot receiving section and connections between said sections for adjustably supporting said upper section at different elevations, a leg rest, and adjustable connections between said leg rest and frame for supportingsaid leg rest on said frame or on said upper foot rest section in different adjusted positions of said upper foot rest section.

4. A chair comprising a seat, a frame mounted.

' rest on said frame, a leg rest, and link means having one end pivotally connectedwith said leg rest and the other end connected with said frame for pivotal and sliding movement relative thereto whereby leg rest may be pivotally supported whereby said leg rest may be pivotally supported on said foot rest.

6. A chair comprising a seat, a frame mounted for movement relative to said seat, a foot rest movably mounted on said frame, a leg rest, trunnion means on said frame, link means pivotally connected with said leg rest and provided with slot means for pivotally and slidably engaging said trunnion means, and means on said frame for latching said link means with said leg rest pivotally supported against said frame, said link means being adapted when unl-atched to support said leg rest for movement to and from extended positions on said foot rest.

NORMAN E. LAUTERBACH.

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